Anti-Intellectualism

"Florida's Anti-Intellectual Climate... and its Eventual Costly Consequences" by v. johns

My county is full of tough people. Many with tough lives. Many who think their lives are tough (See: Darfur). The "cool vs. nerdy" dynamic is strong here. Even among adults. Nerds and geeks, minorities especially, need not apply. Haves and have-nots abound and prioritize things very differently. Trade, service and office workers all seem to be worlds apart. If you fall somewhere in the middle, or don't fit particularly neatly in any category, you feel almost forced to take a side. 

Since I, myself,  don't fit neatly into any one particular scheme, I not only feel like a stranger in m own backyard, I also feel that there's no outlet for my interests. Thus, my social life here is severely less than spectacular. Then again, maybe I don't get out enough --I work, I go home, I read the paper, I rest a bit, I sleep. Then I do it all over again. Maybe it's the fact that I have to make plans to get out as opposed to when I was in college and could get up and go get a brain-full at the drop of a dime. Maybe I can't see past my own personal preferences and prejudices. Maybe college life in education-laden Tallahassee has changed me and spoiled me to the point of ignoring or losing touch with real life. Maybe my experience would be different if I worked in an office environment instead of a grocery store...

Who knows which case applies. Maybe they all do. But aside from my own personal dream of an NYC-style intellectual environment existing and thriving right here in South Florida across 7000 plus square miles of seven large counties, I also realize that the general reality of a good or bad quality of life for our children and families hinges on education. For many people, education is not a matter of casual discussion, but a matter of survival. At any rate, on either level, South Florida's overall intellectual environment, culturally and functionally, leaves much to be desired...

Whatever you do, please don't laugh at what I just said. Even if you cram to imagine the words "intellectual" and "South Florida" in the same sentence, it is that particular notion -- the notion that Florida, where leisure looms larger than learning, is somehow not a place where intelligence can thrive on all levels and among all classes -- that has doomed this region and this state to the bottom ranks of job quality and educational rankings. Add to that a very uninspiring, if not uninviting, social environment that stresses differences and lacks the rich texture of diversity and choice.

All of this is my personal observation combined with the many opinions of others I have discussed these issues with --as well as what I've read in the news and seen on TV . Therefore, I want to caution you that, regarding my argument that the state and the region's intellectual environment are not powerful or influential enough, its not so much that the people of our state and region are all dumb and need to be captured and forcibly educated by the big, benevolent, all-knowing education system. My concern is that the culture of education and learning just isn't that prevalent nor all that respected here in our region. And its connections to our social, commerce and industrial components are not as strong as they should be.

My argument in this article streams from one river with two forks... One personal and one of great concern for my region and state... On one hand, I can't seem to personally find settings, outside of an occasional community college class, where I feel welcome and can be as delightfully enlightened as I want to be. On the other hand, I see real problems that affect everyone's overall quality of life that I believe stem from a culturally-induced, but governance-enabled, lack of affinity for, and access to, a solid educational foundation. We tough-talking, hard-living southerners tend to brush aside such things as non-applicable fluff. But it's not... We shouldn't ignore national surveys and think tank findings or brush them off as intellectual fluff. Stressing over national statistics and rankings is not for academic discussion only. And while I admire our people's noble gestures in keeping Florida's social culture down to earth and free of culturally and intellectually snobbish extremes, we can't allow anti-intellectualism and neglect of our children's minds to take hold and limit their futures.

Though not always reliable or complete in forming a total picture of things, there are some cold, hard realities hiding behind all those fancy numbers. Low high-school graduation rates are not good. And while lack of formal education doesn't make one dumb, it does limit what they can do in a marketplace that demands more than raw talent alone. There's nothing more humiliating than knowing that a better life exists while having not a single clue as to how to get there. And I believe many of our citizens unwittingly find themselves resentful of the very attitudes and tools they need to succeed. Hence, a hands-on citizenry who's cultural beliefs about life plays right into the hands of those who would short them their change...

Despite all that I have told you, regarding my own personal dissatisfaction with the spread-out life I have here versus the more centralized and convenient life I once had in Tallahassee, it can easily be solved by saving up and getting out more. Though I live in Martin, I tend to gravitate toward Palm Beach County for leisure, movies and shopping. I like the more urban environment there. I like Ft. Lauderdale, as well. The only problem is that I usually stop short of things like plays, lectures, clubs and sports. I usually end up opting for the cheap entertainment value of a movie or bookstore. So, perhaps sometime in the future, I will muster up enough courage to get out and meet people and do something out of the ordinary. For now, however, I must work for that privilege.

Even though South Florida, somewhere in one of its seven counties, has something for everyone, not everyone feels welcome here. I could be wrong, but it seems to me that enlightenment seekers, many with modest incomes but with special talents and tastes, are the most neglected constituency in our region for the time being. Sportsmen and party-goers will not be disappointed in South Florida life. But if you're an academician or intellectual, if you're artistic or into television and film, opportunities to gather and grow and gain recognition remain rather limited. South Florida, oddly enough, is loaded with talent, but if you're looking for a vast networked community of artists, actors and scientists, some of these communities are still in their early stages of development and are far from becoming a prominent part of our social fabric here. I do believe that I am not entirely right about this, but upon surface-level observation, this is what I see at this time.

On a much broader level of concern, outside my own personal concerns, I see that my region is not as complete as it could be. The infrastructure lags just as much as the overall social culture and character does. I live in a region where only on half of the region is fully served with mass transit and affordable housing is still not much of a priority. All of this is made worse with all that's going on nationally. But even with those things in mind, our commitment to a more complete region with more amenities and provisions, should not falter. We owe it to ourselves to be much better than we are. Even if we can't have all the things we want now, it's still in our best interest to aggressively plan what we want to become and to anticipate any future problems that might occur on our way there...

Realistically and perceptually, South Florida has had more than its fair share of problems. Adding to our own specific woes, the state that harbors our region continues to rank pretty low in most national indicators, benchmarks and standards in education, justice, fairness and quality of life. Even with all other states doing just as badly, at this time. Still, I believe, our promise of paradise for all remains a very real possibility. Florida has changed -- and is changing -- in ways that many of us have yet to accept, understand or absorb... But once the housing bust is over and the market rebounds, and bigger budgets commence, we'll all see our currently strained commitments to a greater vision of ourselves restart and resume with even more vigor than before. That is what I hope...